Golden State Warriors: 15 Greatest NBA playoff moments

13. 2017 NBA Finals Game 3: Kevin Durant hits the dagger over LeBron James

In the aftermath of blowing a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the mass hysteria of signing Kevin Durant in free agency, the Warriors absolutely needed to prove themselves in the 2016-17 NBA season.

The league had never seen a collapse as great as the 73-9 Warriors team. An all-time great regular season team that seemingly had the championship locked up somehow fell apart in the final three games and missed their chance of solidifying themselves as the greatest team in history.

For most franchises, a devastating loss such as this would mark the end of an era. Instead, the Warriors managed to sign a former league MVP and create an even better team than the one they had before.

With the presence of KD, the Warriors became virtually unguardable. The trio of Durant, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson was too much for any team to defend. Throw in the fact that Draymond Green was having a Defensive Player of the Year type of season and this is one scary team.

By the time the Dubs reached the NBA Finals, they sported a perfect 12-0 record in the playoffs. Despite this, they had received possibly more hate than any other team in history, Durant taking in a majority of the criticism for taking the “easy route.”

The Warriors were once again matched up with the Cavaliers and the entire team had a chance to redeem themselves. With a 2-0 series lead and Game 3 on the line, everyone watching knew that the ending of this game would be pivotal in the series.

As Durant grabbed the ball with under a minute left in the game and a two-point deficit for the Warriors, he showed no fear pulling up in transition over last year’s Finals MVP, LeBron James. KD drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer to win the game for the Dubs and eventually secure the series win.

Durant finished his first Finals appearance with the Warriors averaging 35.2 points per game and was crowned the MVP of the series.